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Sonia’s visit boosts morale of
pro-Azad faction
Cong chief’s statement draws Paharis’ ire
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Dul-Hasti Power Station
Machil Encounter
Trust staff seek parity with Vaishno Devi board employees
Night travel to valley turns risky
Special Lok Adalat has settled 1,449 cases: Justice Virender Singh
BJP starts preparations for civic poll
Damage to crops: Relief sought for farmers
Arms, ammo recovered
CRPF jawan ends life
Snowfall
Bridge thrown open to public
Famous Bengali play ‘Badi Buaji’ staged
Stone crusher owners apprise MP of problems
March to Shopian foiled Landslide: Army
rescues 11 students NGO seeks higher tax on cigarettes
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Sonia’s visit boosts morale of
pro-Azad faction
Jammu, May 30 After cancellation of Sonia’s programmes at the valley the pro-Azad faction was demoralised because her functions at Srinagar were organised by Deputy Chief Minister Tara Chand, a known loyalist of Ghulam Nabi Azad. The faction loyal to PCC chief Saifuddin Soz was projecting that cancellation of Sonia’s functions at Srinagar was its victory against the pro-Azad group. For the pro-Azad faction Sonia’s visit was an opportunity to exhibit its strength and it effectively availed this chance to give an impression to the Congress president that Azad was still the most popular party leader of the state. Sources said this faction managed to take maximum number of its supporters in the venue where Sonia had addressed the rally. In her presence, Azad’s supporters seized all opportunities to show their full support for him. Similarly, many leaders, known for their allegiance towards pro-Azad faction, also managed to reach the venue where lunch was hosted for the Congress supremo. Interestingly, only leaders up to the rank of vice-presidents and general secretaries of the PCC were invited for the lunch, but pro-Azad faction leaders managed their entry. Although Sonia Gandhi did not discuss any organisational matter with the party leaders during the lunch, some party activists managed to indirectly convene their feelings to her. Two former ministers, Suman Bhagat and Choudhary Garu Ram, got an opportunity to discuss some issues with her. Both the ex-ministers are known to be loyalist of Ghulam Nabi Azad faction. Sources said buoyed over “effectively” registering its strength before Sonia Gandhi, the pro-Azad faction has decided to further intensify its activities to further strengthen itself. A meeting has been convened in the next week to discuss the future course of action. “The way Azad accompanied Sonia Gandhi to attend function at Jammu is a clear indication that the Congress high command still considers him (Azad) as one of the prominent party leaders of the state,” observed a senior party leader. He further said the presence of Ghulam Nabi Azad in yesterday’s function had frustrated those leaders who had been claiming that he had no role in state politics.
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Cong chief’s statement draws Paharis’ ire
Jammu, May 30 In a statement issued here today, chief executive of the movement Shahbaz Khan termed Sonia Gandhi’s statement on Gujjars as biased in which she had praised only Gujjars for protecting the nation and boundaries. “She has ignored the contribution of our people for this country,” Khan said, adding, “There was no mention of the Pahari community in her speech which remained focused on one particular community.” Terming the Pahari community as the most secular community of India, Khan said, “We are not terrorists but we have been hurt by the statement of Sonia Gandhi”. “We are patriot, secular and we have laid more lives for the nation than Gujjars but neither Sonia Gandhi nor his Pradesh Congress President Saifuddin Soz made any mention of the community in the programme,” he added. Khan said the community had been striving hard for a long time to get the Scheduled Tribe status but due to interference of some Congressmen it was not getting it. “We will expose these leaders in the near future,” he threatened, adding, if Sonia Gandhi wished to do justice she must announce the Scheduled Tribe status for the Pahari community at the earliest. “We are demanding from New Delhi and if they turn down our demand, we will chalk out a future course of action”, he said. Khan said Paharis had not got the ST status, though their name was on the top of seven tribes list recommended by the state government to the Centre for granting the status in 1989. The community was denied the same due to reasons better known to New Delhi. He said all the six others had got the status while the community that was on the top of the list had been ignored. |
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Dul-Hasti Power Station
Jammu, May 30 Though efforts are being made to rectify the snag, it would take some time, said a senior officer of the Power Development Department (PDD). Confirming this,Mohammad Qasim, Chief Engineer, PDD (Jammu region), said: “Some technical snag has hit the functioning of this mega power project , which also caters to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi”. Efforts were being made to re-erect the tower. Qasim added:” Turbines have been stopped and no electricity has been produced from the station for the past two weeks, which normally generates nearly 390 MW power”. Due to this, pitch dark conditions prevail in Kishtwar town, leading to fear that any further delay in the restoration of the power supply may lead to a law and order problem. Normal life has already been hit in this hilly town as people are being forced to buy water. For a long time after its inauguration,residents of Kishtwar have been regularly demanding free power supply from the project as a majority of them are living in penury-like conditions.
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Machil Encounter
Srinagar, May 30 “Based on preliminary reports of the Machil encounter, received from the Jammu and Kashmir police last evening, a high-level enquiry has been ordered by the Army," the Srinagar- based defence spokesman said. He said efforts were on to "recall" the witnesses as their unit had been de-inducted. “We will judiciously expedite the proceedings as promised’, said the spokesman. “The only delay we foresee is recalling the witnesses who are involved in the incident as the unit has been de-inducted, after competing its mandated tenure. However, efforts to get them back have already been initiated”, he said. The three youths, belonging to Nadihal in Baramulla district, who had been missing since April 27 from their village were killed allegedly in a fake encounter in the Machal sector along the Line of Control on April 30. The army had claimed to have killed them while they were trying to infiltrate into the Indian side from Pakistan. It also claimed to have recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from their possession.But after the photographs of the youths appeared in the local media, the family members recognised them. The police has already arrested two ex-special police officers and a jawan of the Territorial Army in this connection and sources say it has also asked the Army to produce the major involved in the case against whom an FIR has been registered. Meanwhile, angry villagers today stoned the cavalcade of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti when she went to offer condolences to the bereaved families. “The PDP president escaped unhurt,” said a police source. |
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Trust staff seek parity with Vaishno Devi board employees
Jammu, May 30 President of the association Kamal Chand alleged that employees were getting low salaries due to mismanagement in the Trust. During a meeting of the association held this morning that was chaired by Kamal, the employees rued that due to meager salaries and increasing prices of the essential commodities they were facing a tough time. They further said president of the Trust Thakur Diwakar Singh and temple administrator Darshan Kumar be removed. The association appealed to Governor NN Vohra to intervene into the matter and order constitution of a public board for the management. |
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Night travel to valley turns risky
Ramban, May 30 The case in point is the tragic mishap involving a Srinagar-bound Tata Sumo which skided off the road on Friday, killing eight persons. The vehicle had left Jammu in the night. On April 8 this year, a private bus fell into a gorge around 4 am near Ramban. A person was killed and 20 injured in this accident. Similarly, early morning accidents took place on April 19 and May 5, 2010. Recently, the driver of a mini-bus lost life when it fell into a gorge near Patnitop around 6.30 am. Friday’s accident was the first mishap that has taken the highest toll of human lives since the Jawahar Tunnel was thrown open for night travellers in August last year. Earlier, the tunnel used to be closed for traffic at 8 pm. The incidence of accidents taking place in the wee hours was nil till then as commuters or tourists used to travel as per the prescribed limit. But since lifting of the bar, around 5,000 vehicles cross it daily. And the 50-km stretch of the NH-1A between Ramban and JT, having many sharp curves, has turned out be to the most-accident prone area. It would be sensible on part of the tourists coming to this part to travel during the day. These days most pilgrims visiting Mata Vaishno Devi, in absence of a rail link, either use their own vehicles or hire private ones from Jammu. “To earn more, the operators between Srinagar and Jammu force their drivers to make up and down journey in a single day. Authorities should introduce mandatory maintenance of daily logbook for private operators to check the overuse of drivers,” suggested Surinder Singh Raina, a former operator at Batote. SP, Ramban, Mubashir Latifi said it would be wrong to find fault with the government’s decision as it facilitated the traffic because about a decade ago during the height of militancy travelling in the night was unthinkable on this route . “All we need is to devise a regulatory mechanism which can act as a deterrent. The police cannot check who at the steering wheel has had a good sleep. I believe the concept of two drivers can be helpful. It has been seen that chances of accidents are greater during wee hours as drivers feel sleepy or they use mobile phones. Even a fleeting compulsive nap could be deadly, especially on the stretch between Ramban and JT. Travellers must also share the blame as these days everybody is in a hurry and for the operators it is a difficult to resist lure of earning money,” he said.
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Special Lok Adalat has settled 1,449 cases: Justice Virender Singh
Jammu, May 30 This was disclosed by executive chairman of the J&K State Legal Services Authority Justice Virender Singh at the concluding function of Special Lok Adalat 2010. The function was organised by the State Legal Services Authority at District Court Complex, Janipur, here yesterday. Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia was the chief guest. Justice Virender Singh, Justice JP Singh, Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice Sunil Hali were the other dignitaries who attended the function. Justice Virender Singh informed the audience that Special Lok Adalats were also held at RS Pura and Akhnoor in which 20 and 27 cases, respectively, were settled. He emphasised upon the importance of settlement of cases through the mode of Lok Adalat and cited many instances. Chief guest Justice Aftab Hussain Saikia appreciated the efforts extended by Bar members in the successful culmination of Lok Adalat 2010. He distributed cheques to the victims/survivors of motor accident claims settled in the Lok Adalat. He also blessed two couples that got reunited by the endeavours made by conciliators of the Lok Adalat. On this occasion, he released the title page of the newsletter (Endeavour) of the State Legal Services Authority. Chairman of the District Legal Services Authority BL Bhat described the Special Lok Adalat 2010 as a step forward in achieving the objective of settlement of disputes through the mechanism of alternative disputes redressal. The Special Lok Adalat was the brainchild of the executive chairman primarily to clear the appeals filed in concern with motor accident claims. “It was a challenging task to settle claims in such matters, as in most of the cases cross appeals seeking enhancement of compensation were also filed by the other side. The overwhelming response from the litigant public and the enthusiasm demonstrated by Bar members paved the way for settlement in these cases at the appellate stage. It was maiden experience which proved to be beneficial for the public at large,” he said. Other litigations that received attention in this Lok Adalat were those commenced or conceived by various banking institutions, which were taken up for settlement in bulk. The efforts materialised in reaching an amicable settlement in record 183 cases.
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BJP starts preparations for civic poll
Jammu, May 30 Jammu East MLA Ashok Khajuria was the chief guest in the convention in which he highlighted his achievement as representative of the city. Khajuria said he stood for the welfare and wellbeing of people of the entire Jammu region and the Jammu East constituency in particular. He asked party workers to gear themselves for the coming civic bodies elections. He expressed concern over the policy of the Central government in tackling the terrorism. He also expressed surprise over the proposed talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders of the Hurriyat Conference. He asserted that such talks were bound to fail unless people of the state were taken into confidence. He came down heavily on the state administration for imposing charges on langars which were to be established during the Amarnath Yatra for providing free meals to pilgrims. Mahant Rameshwar Dass, who was also present on the occasion, showered his blessings and urged the people to stand united and work for the betterment of society. Those who spoke on the occasion included Rajesh Gupta, Yudhvir Sethi, Purnima Sharma, Priya Sethi, Ramesh Sharma, Karan Singh and others.
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Damage to crops: Relief sought for farmers
Srinagar, May 30 In a statement issued here today, general secretary of the organisation Ghulam Nabi Malik urged the government to take up steps for the assessment of the losses on an urgent basis, especially in South Kashmir where a sizeable population of agriculturists had been hit hard. Malik said the government should provide prompt succour to the farming community, which suffered in such natural calamities. |
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Arms, ammo recovered
Jammu, May 30 The police said acting on the information of movement of some militants, a joint search operation with the jawans of 40 Rastriya Rifles of the Army was launched, during which arms, including 4 AK magazines, 2 Chinese grenades, 5 AK rounds, 2 IED fuse and 17 Pika rounds, were recovered. Later, another search operation was also conducted in the area but no arrests were made, the police said. Meanwhile, the security forces at Navdhr Gali in Reasi disrict busted another hideout of terrorists and recovered one AK 47magazine, 248 Pika rounds and three wireless sets from the spot. |
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CRPF jawan ends life
Srinagar, May 30 The deceased has been identified as Satiyadan Meena, of Rajasthan. |
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Snowfall
Srinagar, May 30 “Over five lakh Gujjars and Bakerwals along with their livestock are trapped in the mountain ranges of Pir Panchal, Shivalik, Trikuta and Zojila,” secretary of the Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation Dr Javaid Rahi said. He said an alerting appeal had been sent to the Centre and the State for starting an immediate rescue operation. “I have sent an urgent e-mail to the President, the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and the State Chief Minister requesting them to start immediate rescue operations to save precious lives,” Rahi said. He said Gujjars, Bakerwals, who moved to the upper reaches as a part of their seasonal tribal migration in April, had been trapped in the upper reaches of Pir Panchal, Doda, Anantnag, Kulgam, Zojiala pass Jamia Gali, Pir Ki Marg, Chhapran, Upper Banihal, Wadwan, Trichhal, Mughal Road, Gurez Machal sector and other areas due to heavy snowfall and rainstorm. According to him, the Gujjars were facing acute shortage of medicines, food and fodder, and warm clothes and were in dire need of help from various agencies, including Disaster Management Department, working under the Home Ministry. The Defence Ministry has also been urged to launch an operation to rescue the stranded nomads. This year, the Gujjar Bakerwal tribe had started their seasonal migrations towards the upper reaches one month ahead of their routine schedule due to an unusual rise in the day temperature, but the sudden shift in the temperature now pose a threat to their lives.
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Bridge thrown open to public
Jammu, May 30 Addressing a large gathering at the colony, Saroori said the bridge would provide connectivity to 50,000 residents of Sainik Colony and its adjacent areas. Reiterating commitment of the government to accelerate developmental activities, he said people had suffered a lot during the past 20 years of turmoil and the utmost endeavour of the government would be to improve their living conditions. “The dream of our young Chief Minister Omar Abdullah is to see people happy and prosperous,” Saroori added. Bhalla expressed his gratitude to Saroori for extending full support in the development of Gandhi Nagar constituency. He said a lot of work had been done by the Roads and Buildings Department, which included black topping and upgrade of many roads and lanes. He said the government was committed to improve the basic facilities in every nook and corner of the state, adding the road connectivity, water, power supply, health and education sectors were getting focused attention. |
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Famous Bengali play ‘Badi Buaji’ staged
Jammu, May 30 A situational comedy, ‘Badi Buaji’, successfully tickled the audience while depicting numerous problems faced by an amateur theatre group trying to put up a play for their colony. With the rehearsals taking place at the residence of Annu - the lead actress of the play, when her Badi Buaji’s sudden visit creates a problem. The orthodox and short-tempered BuaJi is strictly against theatre. Though her father Sansar supports young artists, but lacks courage to go against the wishes of his elder sister who plays a spoilsport to their aspirations of staging the play. She considers her niece doing theatre against the family repute. As the play proceeds, different situations disclose the “play within the play” that was being practiced against all odds created by obstinate Buaji. Inspired by Shekhar’s smartness, the artistes make a delightful last ditch attempt to outwit Badi Buaji. The climax marks not only the success of the play but also wedding bells ringing for Shekhar and Annu, courtesy Shekhar’s lovable Bhabhiji. Sumeet Sharma, who has been awarded Bismilla Khan Award for direction, has adapted the play in local environs and brought many changes to make it more interesting. Rajani Bhatti as Badi Buaji and Bela Thappa as Annu did remarkably well despite the fact that they appeared on the big stage for the first time. Pawan Verma, Mohit Sharma, Rohit Verma, Pankush Verma and Tajasvi Sharma also did well. Sona Mehar, Arvind Singh, Bipin Gupta, Vasu Gupta and Charanjeet Bhardwaj in their supporting roles did good too. Two child artistes Gopi Sharma and Rhythm Mishr were appreciated. The lights were designed by Gaurav Jamwal and executed by Jai Ram. Mohd Yaseen was the public relations officer whereas Balwinder Singh, Vikram Sharma and Ishfaq Anwar managed the hall. Aarushi Thakur presented the show. Noted Dogri writer Jitendar Udhampuri was the chief guest. He complimented Natrang on the completion of 300 shows of Sunday Theatre besides appreciating its efforts in bringing the local theatre at a national level.
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Stone crusher owners apprise MP of problems
Jammu, May 30 The delegation submitted a memorandum to him, in which it demanded the Pollution Control Board to monitor each unit and issue directions in writing to the unit holders after considering their installed capacity and monitoring by the department. It further demanded that instead of putting pressure on shifting units from one place to another, the government should identity places for installing the stone crushers. The memorandum also read that the Geology and Mining Department was not considering the stone crushing industry small scale and was more interested in collection of revenue. The association expressed concern over the imposing entry tax to the tune of 13.5 per cent on importing the crushing machinery and its spare parts purchased by the unit holders for their respective units. The Lok Sabha assured to take up their problems with the authorities concerned. GS Sudan, Dev Choudhary, Prem Sharma, Balwant Gupta, Nand Kishore, Masood Choudhary, Hazi Nazir Ahmed, S K Sharma, Badri Nath and others were also present. |
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March to Shopian foiled Srinagar, May 30 Geelani, who along with others, had given the call for the march was taken in custody on Friday and was shifted to the Central Jail here from where he was admitted to the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences for check-up, spokesman of the faction Aiyaz Akbar said. He claimed though the authorities put separatists under house arrest, some managed to reach Shopian where a protest was held. To foil any untoward incident, the administration imposed Section 144 on five police station areas of the downtown locality of Srinagar. “An undeclared curfew has been clamped under five police stations in the downtown locality, but the strike is complete in the valley,” Aiyaz claimed. Meanwhile, chairman of the moderate faction of the Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, too, has been placed under house arrest as he was also supposed to lead a march to Shopian today. After the incident had come to light last year, the entire valley had witnessed violent protests, as the family members of the deceased accused the security forces of committing the crime. The separatists had alleged that it was the handiwork of the security forces. The first autopsy conducted by a team of local doctors had submitted in its report that the duo were raped and then killed, but a CBI team to which the case was later handed over, refuted the theory of rape and murder and said the duo had died due to drowning in a stream. The family members and the separatists refused to accept the findings of the CBI.
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Landslide: Army rescues 11 students Srinagar, May 30 “After getting the information, the Army launched a quick rescue operation to extricate the children from the mangled bus. Eleven children were seriously injured,” the spokesman said. He said the Army medical team reached the site despite continuing landslides and provided first aid to the injured immediately. Senior Army officers supervised the operation. Despite bad weather, the spokesman said three Army helicopters were pressed into service to evacuate eight children to Military Hospital at Hunder. The remaining three children, who had received head injuries, were taken to Leh in a helicopter since no CT scan facilities were available at Hunder. An Army surgeon performed an emergency surgery on Faizullah, 6, who had sustained serious head injuries.
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NGO seeks higher tax on cigarettes Srinagar, May 30 “Increase the excise and sales tax so that it becomes prohibitive, especially for the students. Most of them will perhaps quit smoking and lead a healthy life,” executive director of the association AM Mir today said in regard to the “No Tobacco Day” being observed tomorrow. “To make the state a smoke-free zone is a long process, but at least public places should be made smoke-free,” Mir said. The association, in collaboration with the Police of Central Kashmir range, imparted training to SHOs and drug control inspectors on the Tobacco Control Act, 2003. Referring to the Section 4 of the Act that prohibits smoking in public places and Section 6 (a) that specifies that vendors and shopkeepers shouldn’t sell cigarettes to children below 18 and Section 6 (b) that no tobacco should be sold within 100 yards from educational institutions, Mir said these provisions should be carried out strictly. “Each shopkeeper has to carry a 60x30 cm sign board with a message “Smoking is injurious to health and it can’t be sold to children up to 18 years of age”, said Mir. He said: “As per the Act, pictorial warning on a cigarette pack has to be gory and should be rotated. The picture should cover 40 per cent area of the pack. The Health Ministry has delayed it saying that they will implement it from December.” Mir said a gory picture would act as a deterrent to smokers as they will think twice before smoking. Seema Gupta, a senior representative of the Voluntary Health Association of India, spoke about smoke-free Srinagar. She deliberated upon advocacy and effects of smoking on women.
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Jammu, May 30
Jammu, May 30
